Cleanliness is next to godliness(or so I've been told)
by Falazure
Summary: In which Nick ignores his feelings and everyone gets a hot shower.


Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing.

This is just a small thing that came out of my brain one day and I felt like cleaning it up and posting it properly. This also takes place in a magical land where the survivors get rescued and taken to a cruise-ship and nothing bad happens to them ever again. (Shhhhh let me dream).

Un-betad so any mistakes are my own.

* * *

Nick barely looked up from his plate as another body settled into one of the vacant chairs by the table he'd situated himself at. He was too busy inhaling his food to care.

It didn't matter that it was overcooked, that the vegetables were mushy, and that the meat was about as tender as a tank's arm. To Nick, who had been surviving on granola bars and whatever else they could scrounge in safe-houses for months. It tasted like _heaven_.

" I'm surprised you're not still in the showers." Nick looked up to catch Rochelle's smirk. He speared a few carrots onto his fork, straitening in his seat as he realised just how hunched over he had been sitting.

" Trust me I would have spent an hour in there if I hadn't had a guy in a hazmat suit shove me out of the door." Rochelle laughed at that and Nick returned it with a small smile as she dug into her food. From the small sigh she made the lack of culinary expertise didn't bother her either.

The shower had done her good, she still looked tired sure. Nick would bet that he looked _far_ worse, but with the blood and grime gone she looked more relaxed. Happier almost. The lack of zombies trying to eat their faces off more than likely helped with that too.

A small frown scrunched Nick's brows as he realised that he hadn't seen Coach or Ellis yet. More surprised at the younger man's lack of appearance. Nick had assumed that Ellis would have rushed out of the showers to see them the first chance he got. He raised his head a bit and fixed his eyes towards the entrance of the dining hall, scanning over any new faces that appeared. Deliberately _not_ thinking about the fact that he was looking for a head of messy hair in particular.

He didn't miss the grin on Rochelle's face. " What?"

" Nothing." Rochelle just shrugged, her eyes twinkling at him like she _knew_. Nick scowled at her and resumed eating while looking up at the doors whenever someone entered. He'd seen that look before and there was no way in hell he was responding to it now. " I'm sure he'll be here soon."

Nick's scowl only deepened.

He went back to spearing food onto his fork while keeping an eye on the doors, ignoring Rochelle and her stupid smiles.

She didn't know shit.

He could be a big enough man to admit that he'd grown fond of his little rag-tag team over the months they had spent trying to stay alive. Not that he would _ever_ tell them that. And sure Ellis had managed to annoyingly worm his way under the adamantium-grade armour that Nick had erected around himself. But Nick considered that given how much of a high-stress situation the zombie apocalypse was, the fact that he'd ended up caring about one stupid hick wasn't the end of the world.

It wasn't as if he _liked_ Ellis.

The other man was annoying as all get out. Rambling almost constantly about his idiot redneck friends or what life was like in Savannah. (Never mind that after a few weeks Nick had stopped being quite so harsh when telling Ellis to shut up. Or that by the end of their journey he'd even let Ellis talk at him whenever he wanted because he had fucking _needed_ it).

And sure Ellis was nice to look at. But running from zombies and getting covered in all sorts of bodily fluids, and god knows what else, had nipped whatever had been left of his libido in the bud pretty early on.

Sewage waste was not sexy.

Yet all that was squarely kicked in the nuts as Nick caught Ellis walking into the dining hall. He was showered and clean with a more subdued but no less bright smile on his face. And fuck it all he looked _good_.

Nick had gotten so used to seeing him covered in zombie guts that he'd forgotten that underneath it was a young and _very_ attractive man. One who was currently making his way over to their table.

Nick swallowed thickly as he stared at Ellis, his eyes catching the play of muscle underneath the other man's shirt as he moved.

It was as if his body had suddenly realised that he had gone months without any kind of sexual contact. Hell without even jerking off. And Nick found himself having to scoot his chair closer to the table in order to hide his now rather interested dick.

Well, _fuck_.


End file.
